A Kitchen Story
by Newfound Silence
Summary: Canon, Post-Jinchuu, Ken/Kao, one-shot. In which Yahiko asks Kaoru a question, and the latter is made aware of her ever-sharpening instincts.


Disclaimer: Nobuhiro Watsuki is the creator of Rurouni Kenshin. This work purely for entertainment purposes only and is not for profit.

Vocabulary:

Youkan – A traditional sweet food, usually in a jelly-like form. It is made from sugar, azuki beans, and kanten powder or agar agar. In Chapter 152 of the manga, Kenshin tells Sanosuke he is welcome to eat some of the youkan which is cooling in the dojo well.

Kyuri – cucumbers

Nasu – eggplants

Tsukemono – A term that refers to picked vegetables; not used in this story, but is the reason why Kaoru is slicing some cucumbers and eggplants.

Manaita – A cutting board

Bushido – The code of ethics for samurai, which included principles such as justice, sincerity, and benevolence. It had its basis in both Zen and Confucian tradition. In the course or Japanese history, particularly halfway through the 19th century, this code became expected of the entire nation, thus gradually contributing to the formation of nationalism.

Kamado – This term was used to mean the kitchen in a household, until the Meiji era.

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Yahiko really was, Kaoru decided, growing up. Stopping herself before she could add what words (too fast!) would turn the thought into an adage, she set to continue arranging the ingredients for supper in front of her.

It was not that she had become any better at cooking since her last culinary disaster, the mediating period depending on location (a month since their return from Enishi's island, seven weeks since her dried, crumbles-in-your mouth rice balls), but lately Kenshin had been more than willing to let her help him in the kitchen.

Keeping her head down, Kaoru sat on her heels in order to slice the kyuri before her, carefully concealing the smile that threatened to curve her lips in half-moon satisfaction. The boy before her may be maturing quickly, but that did not mean his boyhood antics were fully behind him. At the smallest hint of a blush from her or the merest sound of a giggle, Yahiko would no doubt launch into a speech about how she and Kenshin should just get married already, as though it were a matter as simply decided as fetching youkan from the well.

Still, Kaoru thought, if there was one thing she could be thankful for in the peace after Enishi's Jinchuu, it was the newfound solace she felt at Kenshin's side. As always with Kenshin, his language was one of well-formed spaces, the unsaid so deafening it pierced through her bones and warmed her from a place inside she hadn't before known existed. That he had held her hand during the walk from Tomoe's grave was one thing, but the understated continuity in this offering was what really touched her.

There were still times when he kept a respectful distance from her. The walk from the grave, so soon after Enishi's Jinchuu possibly being an exception, they did not usually hold hands in public. However, once people started to crowd in (as they did last week after they had lunch at the Akabeko), as usually happened during certain hours of the day with children weaving in and out of people's legs, hawkers shouting their wares blooming like mushrooms, old women moving slowly and groups of young men milling aimlessly about, Kaoru always managed, with a strange ability, to see Kenshin's arm as he slowly angled his bent elbow towards her, the opening not too wide but not too narrow for her to slip her forearm through until it rested comfortably on the crook of his elbow and they wove through the crowd, Kenshin always slightly leading: there an anchor against the wave of bodies that would, even momentarily, separate them.

And later, perhaps, as the crowd thinned and they reached the river, carefully she would guild her palm from his elbow until it reached his hand and they could walk together, side by side, his silent acknowledgment of her desire heady as he responded to her palm cupping his hand.

"Well?"

Yahiko's voice pierced through her gentle thoughts, an interruption filled with young impatience and a kind of nervous excitement. "What do you think? You don't think Yutaro-_chan _gave Tsubame that hair pin, do you? _Do you?_" Panic, Kaoru decided as rose to fetch a pot already filled with water; the boy was panicking.

She set to make sure that the pot was full enough, careful to remember Kenshin's instructions as she checked the flame ("A gentle fire will do, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin had repeatedly told her, "Once some steam rises, that will do."). Biting her lip and hoping she had done just that, she settled down on the floor opposite Yahiko, who looked too deep in thought as he stared at the vegetables between them.

Had Yahiko not seen the hairpin in question, Kaoru knew, he'd be dancing around in excitement for the culinary delights Kenshin was sure to whip up while telling Kaoru she had no business trying to help. He'd likely also be reminding her that he'd assisted her in giving extra lessons at the Maekawa dojo two days ago, which was why they had had enough to buy some kyrui _and _nasu yesterday. Unfortunately, in their hurry they had forgotten that they were almost out of salt.

Still, Kenshin had left a little while ago to take care of that, so perhaps the most immediate concern (aside from making sure she didn't burn the dojo down before he returned), was to cater to her panicking student—preferably, by way of subtle teasing before anything else.

"Really, what's all this about, Yahiko?" She kept her voice irritatingly calm. "Tsubame-chan's a pretty girl. It's no surprise someone like Yutaro would want to win her favors, neh?"

"Yeah, well, what makes you so sure she even wants that hairpin? She never even said anything about hairpins to me! Last time I learned how to make a paper cicada for her—"

"I'm sure it was a very pretty cicada—"

"All right, all right, it looked like a leaf Sano crushed in his fist, but so what? It's a lot more thoughtful than some fancy hairpin! She can't even wear that while she's working 'cause it's too freaking nice to use in the day! What kind of girl would think of wearing that while working and who'd be stupid enough to—"

"Yahiko!"

Kaoru brought the knife down so hard that a part of her thought she may have sliced the manaita into two. "That's no way to speak! I don't know what Yutaro is up to these days, but that gives you no excuse for saying those things. And one more thing I don't know is if everyone at Ruffian Row speaks like they just had a taste of my cooking, but one thing I do know for sure: no student of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu is going to badmouth other people like that just because he's worried that the girl he likes is getting attention from someone else!"

Yahiko had the grace to look away, blushing. He gulped before he opened his mouth. "I shouldn't have said that. I just, you know…" The boy continued to flush so red that Kaoru made herself check on the water to give him some privacy. A couple of minutes passed by, with Kaoru continuing to slice the vegetables, averting her eyes from Yahiko in case he was still red as the sunset.

When her student finally spoke, however, there was no mention of Tsubame, Yutaro, or hairpins for that matter.

"Kaoru, can I uh, can I ask you another question? It's uh…it's kinda about you and Kenshin…" The tone of voice made her pause. That wasn't the way Yahiko usually spoke. His voice had been small, and dare she think it, had sounded almost scared…

Taking a breath as slowly as possible, Kaoru let her mind walk down the streets from Old Toru's stand at the market. From there, she calculated, it would take ten minutes to get through the narrow lane of fish sellers, and perhaps another ten minutes to walk from there to the downtown proper, fifteen if the afternoon rush caught you, and an extra five more minutes to get through to the path behind the houses where the river bended behind the dojo, which was the path Kenshin liked to take when he was alone or if it were simply him and Kaoru making their way home.

'_All in all, Kenshin should be back any minute, and if by some wicked twist of fate, Yahiko is about to ask about…physical relations between a man and a woman, Kenshin can just come right in and take the lead from there…'_

"And Tomoe-san…"

Kaoru swallowed hard. It was one thing to talk about Tomoe to Megumi, in the conversation that one night so long before the shadow of her staged death came upon them, wounding Kenshin far deeper than any physical blow and causing waves of sorrow in everyone she had ever known—but to talk to Yahiko about Kenshin's first love made her nervous. To his credit, Yahiko must have sensed some tension.

"I mean, don't get all worked up or anything," the boy said in a rush. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to—"

The boy went on in an attempt to explain why the question was unnecessary, making Kaoru more convinced that the opposite was true, not merely for her sake but for the sake of her student, who was eager to learn not just in the principles of kenjutsu, but in the principle matters of the heart. It may have been more instinct than anything else, but Kaoru was always learning that a fighter's instincts were irreplaceable and more often than not, right. And she was nothing if not a fighter.

"Of course," Kaoru said. "Of course I'll answer, Yahiko." Her voice was so calm she might as well have been telling him that there were some leftovers for him to snack on after the morning's exercises.

"But," Yahiko said, looking at her, almost all defenses down. "You haven't even heard my question…"

"Well then it's the perfect time to ask, isn't it?"

Calm was simply a function of fear, Kaoru realized. When you feared so greatly and hoped only to survive, to come through in the smallest number of pieces so you could easily be held together again, whole, in the face of the crucial moment, the fear cancelled itself into calm.

Yahiko swallowed and looked down at the ingredients set out between them.

"Do you feel bad that Kenshin had someone else…before you, I mean? I don't want to be rude or anything, and I _swear _I'm not asking just to annoy you, it's just, it's just with Tsubame-chan, I feel like I've known her forever, you know? And why should she pay attention to anyone else, anyway? I mean, I met her first and, and…"

At that point the boy was looking past his hands clenched on his knees, and for all that Kaoru was, in turn, watching him with a growing sense of understanding, she might as well have not been there, so deep was Yahiko in his own confusion.

She waited patiently until he blinked a couple of times and muttered a barely audible "So…you know…there, I guess," before she took another deep breath and smiled.

"At first," she said carefully, "I felt miserable, not so much because he felt deeply for someone else before me but because he didn't tell me about her. I know it seems unfair. When was he supposed to tell me? In the middle of hanging up laundry? Sometime during breakfast? It was selfish of me to feel that way, but I understand that I needed to feel like that for a while."

"And now?"

Yahiko's voice had now taken the same solemnity hers had. She could have closed her eyes and thought that she was carrying on a conversation with a disguised samurai, refined in all the precepts of Bushido, instead of her bratty protégé who insisted on calling her just about every synonym for 'ugly.'

"Now…" She took another deep breath. It seemed ridiculous to feel the swell of emotion budding inside her for a past so long gone, implied only by a single, innocent question. She was not crying, not really. But there were tears in her eyes.

"Now I just think how much hurt he went though, neh, Yahiko? I've never—" she cleared her throat and made vague gestures with her hands. "I've never felt the way I do about Kenshin—not for anyone else. And I just think if anything ever happened to him and I'd been powerless…"

_If Jineh had succeeded in killing him, using her as bait…_

"I wouldn't even know where to begin. I wouldn't know what to say or who to listen to. I wouldn't want to see or talk to anyone because…"

_What would be the point, if Kenshin had died before her very eyes?_

The silence stretched on heavily until she could breathe properly again and accept that a smile was the best way to stop the tears.

"So now, I just think if there was anything I could have done to spare Kenshin that pain, the pain of losing Tomoe-san—"

"Kaoru, don't be stupid—"

Instead of cutting him off with words, she held up a hand. "But there is nothing I can do. Because as much as I hate the thought of Kenshin in pain, we've all had some good times together, haven't we? The best of times."

She managed a grin. "It's more than a little complicated. The thought of life without him is unbearable, but I really do wish I could have spared him the pain of losing Tomoe-san. I guess, in the end, Yahiko, I just want him to be happy. And if washing my laundry and putting up with my lousy cooking makes him smile, then…"

She let herself imagine him, goofy look on his face, elbow-deep in suds; dodging friendly punches from Sanosuke; blushing furiously from some carefully-placed innuendo from Megumi while trying to calm Kaoru down herself.

"It's whatever makes him happy, really." She looked at the young man before her, really looked at him: at his sun-darkened skin, wide eyes, and unruly hair; at the look on his face that showed both determination and struggle. "Do you understand what I mean, Yahiko? In the end, it's up to him to choose happiness. But if he really wants me—if he lets me stay with him as he struggles—"

_Remember, Ken-san chose not I, not Tomoe-san, but _you.

"Well I think I'll live," she finished, allowing herself a long, foolish laugh, pleased when Yahiko joined in while shaking his head.

"But I wouldn't worry so much about Tsubame-chan," she said. "The girl is crazy about you. Two weeks ago, she was crazy about that hairpin, too, so Tae-san and I put some of our own money together to buy it for her."

"You what? Well why didn't you tell me? I've been worrying all this time and thinking of all the ways I can kick Yutaro's ass and you knew all along—"

"You're welcome," she quipped, setting the knife down. "Now run along so you can walk Tsubame-chan home after her shift."

The boy, still grumbling about the unfairness of his ugly, annoying, fat, old woman of a teacher, waved her a goodbye without glancing back. Still, Kaoru knew that the exchange had left them with equal parts relief and gratitude.

She had a feeling Yahiko was going to be more attentive than ever to Tsubame, and would at least manage a more calm attitude at the possibility of other boys setting their eyes on the young girl.

Or perhaps it was more than just a feeling. As she continued to practice Kamiya Kasshin, she found her instincts were constantly developing, growing ever sharper, and—

Well, it was worth a try…

"Kenshin," she said without turning, "Was the money enough to buy some salt from Old Toru?"

"Aa, Kaoru-dono, that it was," he answered, stepping inside the kamado. She rose and showed him the sliced vegetables for approval. Rising, she turned away from him to check if they still had enough sea tangle for lunch tomorrow, only to be held back when she felt his arms wrap around her obi, holding her close to him.

There was a moment of shock as she stood stiffly in his arms before gradually relaxing. An endless moment passed between them, during which she waited, both thrilled and nervous. Eventually, her attention was drawn to the firm way he held her; to the way he calmly and steadily breathed, chin just over her right shoulder; to the perfect snugness of their two bodies molded together this way.

"This one is very happy to be home, Kaoru-dono."

She reached for one of his hands, somewhere on the side of her waist, and, in a sudden surge of bravery, decided not simply to hold it but to entwine her fingers with his as he continued to hold her.

Here, as dusk was falling and as the symphony of cicadas sounded in the air, away from suspicious eyes, she felt an entire world of possibilities open up before them.

She sighed in satisfaction.

"So am I, Kenshin. So am I."

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Historical notes:

On architecture

Some of you may be wondering why Kaoru and Yahiko were sitting on their ankles while in the kitchen.

Before the 20th century, specifically during the Taisho regime, the setting of Japanese kitchens was designed so that people could prepare food while sitting or crouching on the floor. It was only with the later influence of the West that kitchen designs allowed for stoves that could be operated while standing.

While the Meiji era welcomed the influence of European culture in everyday living, I am not fully aware of canon facts that tell us when exactly the dojo evolved (i.e., if the training hall was already part of the household or was an eventual addition as Kaoru's father developed his own fighting style).

In the manga, Kaoru tells Kenshin that her father spent ten years developing the Kamiya Kasshin style after surviving the Bakumatsu, which was of course before the Meiji Restoration. So to be specific, my basic assumption here is that regardless of the development of the training hall, the Kamiya kitchen was a cross between the traditional design (which would have required kneeling or sitting on the floor to prepare the ingredients) and the more Western-influenced design which was more common in the Meiji era (and which would then have featured a stove that people could operate while standing).

Of course some of you may think that I am wasting energy explaining myself (particularly if you've seen the anime, where we see Kenshin standing up as he prepares food). Anyway, I thought it better to present some historical facts, as the Meiji era was particularly interesting for Japanese culture—which leads us to the next note:

On cuisine

Food was also inevitably affected by the increased influence of the West during the Meiji era. Specifically, the culinary style of yoshoku was developed in order to make way for Japanese interpretations of Western recipes. More modern examples of yoshoku include Napolitan spaghetti and a lot of "katsu" dishes. There's a very interesting New York Times article on it, if anyone is interested.

However, given the economic situation of the Kamiya dojo, I chose to include ingredients that would make up more traditional (and cheaper) food available to what I understand to be most citizens of that time. Hence the inclusion of pickled eggplant and cucumbers (for the tsukemono), as well as sea tangle.

On geography

As to the way to the dojo from the market place and all its related details (the river, the back way around the dojo, etc.), these are all my own inventions, conveniently cooked up to fit the story. Definitely not to be used as canon reference.

On honorifics

Regarding honorifics, Kaoru usually addresses both Tae and Tsubame with honorifics in the manga, so I decided to follow that here. I didn't let Kaoru use any on Yahiko and Yutaro, not to imply that she has less respect for them, but merely to connote the more jovial, brother-sister-bickering relationship I feel they have. And yes, I let Kenshin use the "-dono" honorific on Kaoru :)

_Remember, Ken-san chose not I, not Tomoe-san, but _you. – A direct quote from the manga; hard-hitting words from Megumi to Kaoru before the former left for Aizu

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In other words, any errors are fully my own. If anyone wants to see the links I used for historical facts behind this story ("Stop SOPA!" gives you a clue), please send me a message or tell me in a review. Thanks for reading!


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